The solution nobody wants to talk about

Why is the US is a downward spiral-demographics, poor monetary policy, poor fiscal policy are contributors to the problem. However, the outsourcing of labor and the subsequent diminishing of the true middle class has resulted in the US having fewer consumers. SP500 chieftains took full advantage of the outsourcing option brought about by the instant communication via the internet. The World is Flat highlighted the benefits of the profit potential from moving high cost labor to low cost countries. As long as those countries were stable and friendly to Western policies, US corps were able to expand their bottom lines at the expense of the average US worker who was forced to take lower paying jobs. What the corporate chieftains failed to realize they were also taking away the buying power of their products. This did not happen overnight, but it was the product of a decade of outsourcing. So until the developing countries finally develop, the mkt for finished goods is going to be limitied. The developing countries like China, Russia and India are more centrally planned and therefore the main task is to build the infrastructure to make life more amenable for its inhabitants. That means less plasma TVs and more roads. The free trade argument has been abused by corp. executives and now has come back to bite them. From the Henry Ford/Walter Ruether conversation='that's great Henry,but who are you going to sell your cars to?' There has to be a balance between corp. bottom lines and workers making enough $ to support the economic landscape. I suspect the unions are going to gain power in the years ahead and if the Dems take Washington, Free trade is going to run into some roadblocks.